Pre-pay gas stations eliminate theft issue

Jen Lawson

Friday, May 28, 2004 | 8:59 a.m.

Many drivers fed up with high gasoline prices have been filling up their vehicles and speeding off without paying throughout the country, but those types of "gas runs" are rare in the Las Vegas area, police and gas station owners say.

That's because most gas stations in Southern Nevada require motorists to pay before pumping.

Jim Johnson, owner of Jim's Texaco on East Sahara Avenue near Eastern Avenue, said if he didn't require customers to pay first, he'd be broke.

"Las Vegas was just a terrible town for this," Johnson said. "It's always been one of those con artist towns."

Self-serve began in Nevada in 1978 or 1979, Peter Krueger, head of the Nevada Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association said. Gas theft became so rampant in Las Vegas that by 1982 most required payment before pumping.

Other areas of Nevada allow motorists to pump first, Krueger said.

"There's no law requiring it. It's an individual business decision," he said. "People see pre-pay as a turnoff to customers, but the Las Vegas market has been very steadfast in this."